I'm hoping those with recent experience (most my Falcon building experience goes as far back as nearly 30 years ago) can tell me where I can find parts for my Falcon that are made in America or quality made parts regardless of country of manufacture.

I believe German made and Taiwanese made parts are of a high quality, but I want to avoid parts made in China, and I have no experience with parts made in Mexico or Canada so I am asking for opinions from people with experience.

Myself, I'm putting a clutch in my '64 Falcon and O'Reilly's only had a Chinese made clutch kit, and then I found a clutch kit for the Fairmont that is made in Korea by Valeo, distributed by Sachs, which, I found acceptable, they seem to do pretty well building Kias and Hyundais...

...BUT I held out and began really sniffing around when a guy who runs an exotic and collectible car shop told me that when he has special projects he relies on Fort Wayne Clutch in Ft. Wayne Indiana.

They have my clutch and it's on its way, rebuilt in America with American parts as promised by them.

I will likely install new upper control arms in another Falcon of mine, and I'm not going to want Chinese made arms in my Falcon, nor any Chinese parts in my Falcon.

So who do I go to for American made Falcon parts? (Total Control Suspension is a last resort at $600 per control arm)

At the very least, who do I go to in order to AVOID Chinese made parts?

That is a hard one. The stock replacement parts are all from overseas suppliers as far as I know. You can look at the performance world like Global West and Total Control as you mentioned but prices will be very high.

I ended up converting my upper control arms to roller units with a kit from Opentracker Racing. You cut out the pieces that ware and replace with new. Welding is required.

I've had good look with the suspension parts from Mustangs Plus. I'm sure they are import but are decent quality.

My two cents...as someone who does a lot of work in China and with automotive companies as a Director of Quality.. First and foremost try to find a good "brand"...that hasn't been bought out. There are tons of buy outs...they take the reputation of the name, then move the production to somewhere cheaper and they literally don't care about the quality because the money just rolls in regardless and by the time enough people have figured it out they have sold the company again. So the quality drops and a brand that used to be good turns to junk. I've seen it over and over.. Another thing...parts only sold in the aftermarket...there are basically NO quality requirements like there are with OEM's. None of us aftermarket buyers have any clout to make it better. (Ford on the other hand...lots of clout.) Meanwhile, a good brand that has been made in China (or any place else) for ages, especially if OEM's are their main customers, can actually be very good quality. It just depends on the management and the quality level of the factory. Unfortunately, some of the stuff we need for these cars...is not made by any major brand anymore-no name on it. So, it's tough to tell. Also, brands that say their stuff is ISO-9001 or TS16949 quality...there is a good chance it's better-there are a lot of good standards involved there, and that also indicates they're selling into OEM's, but there is no gaurantee. Hope that helps! I think we all struggle with this one.

I have ordered bunch of front end steering and suspension parts for my car.

The tie rod ends I received from Falcon Parts are labeled as being from "Rare Parts, Inc., Stockton, CA. Proudly Made in The USA." God Bless America! They say that their "Diamond Series parts exceed O.E. and aftermarket products." The 1963 1/2 - 1964 V-8 Falcons were Odd Birds and the tie rod ends, idler arm, and pitman arm were unique parts. The replacement parts were expensive, but I am glad that someone is still making them available. They have an on-line catalog. See: http://shop.rareparts.com/smtp/rpdef.asp They will re-build your original 63-64 pitman arm for $100 less than buying a replacement part from Mac's. They say: "Part must be sent to Rare Parts to be remanufactured. Application: V8 4.3L 260cid."

The Cam-Shield Zinc additive that I add to my motor oil is also Made in USA.3-DCP_5557.jpg

Wilbur said; "I believe German made and Taiwanese made parts are of a high quality, ..."
The upper and lower control arms that I received from Falcon Parts are labeled "ACP All Classic Parts, Inc, Made in Taiwan". They look good. The upper arms came with 90-degree grease fittings for the ends of the pivot shaft and they have plastic sleeves over the mounting bolts to protect the threads during shipment.

ACP says: "Our company has always invested 100% of our resources into each and every product we offer and we control the entire manufacturing process. We start with new and accurate tooling along with the purest raw material to ensure a quality product with superior fit and craftsmanship." See: http://www.acpdealer.com/about/

Long story is that about 3 years ago now - give or take - I bought a whole pile of parts from a Craigslist seller who had purchased them for his wagon -- I was going to install most of them onto my Ranchero and the other parts were for a wagon... and hey, I have one of those too. These parts originally came from Falcons Northwest and were high-quality US-made parts (some NOS as best I could tell). The parts I just got do appear lighter and were, in fact, stamped as coming from China. They were also Dorman parts. Even so I had to grind the entire back-side of one lower control arm to get it to pivot past the engine frame mount.

But I'm missing my point... My point is the parts I bought 3 years ago were high quality parts (as would any NOS part you buy today) but rubber deteriorates in the atmosphere over time and may fail - even if they look brand-new when you installed them. Within a year of use every upper and lower ball joint rubber crumbled away to nothing and wouldn't hold grease. I debated getting replacement ball joints, but the cost for these exceeded the entire control arm. Of course I may kick myself later, but so far so good. And beside, there is still the risk the replacements were made overseas.

The moral of the story is that rubber parts may require replacement if you buy NOS parts.

I also agree with Don. Where I work we can say it was "Made in America" as well, which doesn't mean every part was made in America. It's fully assembled in the USA, QC'd in the USA, but many parts are made overseas. And we have found some parts are best kept at home in terms of manufacture.

Also, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil are all in America too... just a different America.

I just had to replace my front suspension parts - again. ... The parts I just got do appear lighter and were, in fact, stamped as coming from China. They were also Dorman parts. Even so I had to grind the entire back-side of one lower control arm to get it to pivot past the engine frame mount.

Hello, Roger.

I ordered upper and lower control arms from FalconParts.com and then saw Dorman brand control arms on e-bay for one half the price of what Falcon Parts charged. My first thought was Darn it!! But then I read your post about the Doman parts being messed up, so maybe there is a reason why they are cheaper. The Falcon Parts control arms I received were ACP All Classic Parts brand, made in Taiwan. Hopefully, they will be OK.

Then I saw a 1963 Ford Falcon V8 idler arm on e-bay for one half what the other people were charging. I placed my order thinking that I was getting a deal. Darn it!! The idler arm that I received today is not the one that I ordered. The item I received has a hole in the end of the arm opposite of the bushing. The one I ordered has a little ball joint projection, not an open hole. This will delay my front end re-build and I will have to pay to return this to the sender, which will diminish what was supposed to be a good deal. Plus I will still have to hope that they can send me the right part. Bargains are not always worth it.

Update: The merchant provided me with a speedy response. The part that I received was numbered IA-18653.
The merchant said: ""Hello, I see the mistake that was made. You should have received an idler arm with the part number IA18635. A replacement will be shipped out today. We apologize for the mistake. A tracking number will be available later today."

Oh, well. There was a bit of confusion but it looks like things will work out.